Instagram has added text-to-speech and voice effects to its Reels feature as the rivalry with TikTok continues.
According to Instagram, text-to-speech puts an auto generated voice to read text out loud, adding an extra level of creativity to a Reels post. Voice effects, as the name suggests, allows you to modify audio or your voice with a filter after recording a Reel.
At this point, options for both features are fairly limited. Text-to-speech currently has only two available voice options while voice effects launches with five filters to start off with. Reels creators can experiment with filters such as Helium to make their voices high-pitched or add a deep booming voice with the Giant filter.
Creators can also choose to sound like an announcer, a vocalist, and a robot with the respective filter. The two new creative tools are currently rolling out to Instagram mobile users, however there has been no mention if Reels or any of its tools will make its way to the app’s desktop version.
Since its introduction on August 2020, Instagram has been pushing people to engage more with Reels.
The company has gone so far as to create the Reels Play Bonus Program which gives out cash bonuses to people in order incentivize creating Reels posts. A post on Reddit showed Instagram offering someone $35,000 to get over 58 million views as part of the program.
Instagram will have to continue playing catch-up with TikTok as the app expands its popular tool set. Recently, TikTok announced its new partnership with Disney to offer text-to-speech voiceovers based on popular characters like Chewbacca and C-3PO.
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